Tonya has owned her pet sitting, dog boarding and dog walking business for over 10 years.

She’s struggling with the pet industry competition in her area, especially the large amount of Rover pet sitters, hobby and neighborhood dog walkers and pet care providers.

Tonya is understandably feeling confused and upset because the people reaching out to her for pet services lately aren’t willing to pay her professional pet sitter prices. They seem interested at first but then when she quotes her rate, they often don’t want to schedule services.

This is causing Tonya to feel unsure about what to do to get clients. She doesn’t want to lower her rates; ideally she wants to attract the right clients willing to pay her rates. She’s stuck and needs help!

Click to listen to Get Your Mind and Business Pointed in the Right Direction.

Jeremy has owned his pet care business for a few years, and he’s got a lot of 5-star Yelp reviews and many clients who love his pet services.

In this coaching session, he’s feeling frustrated because he would like to get referrals from his clients, but it rarely happens. He’s not sure what to do in order to get referrals from his clients without being pushy.

Obviously, Jeremy can’t force his clients to refer him but there are specific strategies he can begin doing that can assist him in reaching out to his clients with the intention of inspiring his clients to refer his business to their family, friends and online. We’ll cover this and a lot more in this pet business coaching session.

Click to listen to How to Get Client Referrals.

Maria has owned her pet business for many years. She had a business partner, but she recently bought her partner’s portion of the business, so the business is all hers now.

For the last several years, Maria has been managing her business remotely because she’s living in a different state than her service-based business is located.

She has a lot of staff members who are ICs, and she needs to convert those ICs to employees.

Join Maria and I as we discuss how best to convert her ICs into employees, and we explore ways to turn her already very successful pet business into an even better business!

Click to listen to Hiring Staff and Converting ICs into Employees.

Heather wants to have more time with her kids and herself.  She bought a pet sitting business and now that’s she’s been running it for a while, she wants to change some fundamental ways she’s currently running it.

Like a lot of pet business owners (especially newer pet business owners), Heather is trying to be too many things and doing too much for many of her clients which is causing her to feel burned out and stuck in a rut.

She wants to create more of a “plug-and-play” or turnkey business. Taking on new overnight pet sitting clients is often anxiety-producing for Heather because it’s such an intimate experience with her staff in the client’s home, sleeping in their bed, etc. and she never knows how it’s going to turn out. She is also feeling that her many clients have become her bosses which is leading her to feel like she has 50 bosses.

Also, holidays feel very overwhelming for her because she gets so many potential clients reaching out desperate for care and they may only use her company for that one holiday which feels like a lot of work for a small amount of money.

Click to listen to "My 50 Clients Are Like Having 50 Bosses."

Hi pet business owners!

There’s something brand-new that’s happening VERY soon:

It’s the Pet Business + Self Care Accountability Group!

This is an opportunity to connect with me in real-time, and meet other pet business owners from all over the world. If you can’t make the live class date(s), you’ll automatically get the recording!

Click to listen to Special Announcement from Kristin Morrison.

Katie is a pet sitter and dog walker who has had her business for 17 years. She needs to hire staff in her pet business. Katie has experienced a lot of growth in her business and, though she does have a few staff members, she is still doing some of the services as well as managing her business. She feels exhausted and needs to find good help quickly!

Click to listen to Get Intentional About Hiring Staff.

Kendra is a pet sitter and dog walker in Florida who needs some help with some specific areas in her business. She wants to expand her client base and also wants to figure out how to best navigate the seasonal demands. She has a hard time predicting (and working with) the feast and famine aspect that can sometimes be at the center of a pet sitting business.

Click to listen to Feast or Famine in Your Pet Business.

Tanya is in the midst of restarting her pet sitting, dog walking and dog boarding business in New Jersey. Her pet business was doing well pre-pandemic but then when the pandemic happened, a lot of her clients stopped needing pet care and she had to let her pet care team go. So, here she is in the beginning stages of restarting her business and she has a lot of questions.

Click to listen to Post-Pandemic Pet Business Revamp.

Rob is starting a new dog training business, and he’s got a lot of questions!

No matter what kind of service-based pet business you have, in this pet business coaching session you’ll learn how you can also start and grow your pet business!

Click to listen to Start and Grow a New Pet Business.

Today’s episode is coaching session I did with Amy, a pet sitter and dog walker based in Texas.

Like a lot of business owners, Amy is finding some experiences from her past are impacting her future.

Amy’s courage and vulnerability are something powerful to behold.

So many business owners go through what you’ll hear her share about today and if you’re also someone struggling with your past negatively impacting your present, you’ll learn ways that you can begin to release your past in in order to create a whole new future for yourself and your pet business!

Click to listen to Clear the Past to Create Your New Future.

Today’s episode is a conversation that Kristin Wilson had with me on her podcast, Badass Digital Nomads.

You’ll hear Kristin and I discuss the various ways we kept ourselves away from traveling (sniff sniff!)

You’ll also learn how the desire to travel eventually pushed us to set up our businesses in ways that would enable us to go away for long stretches of time, including a sabbatical I took a few years ago for nearly a year from my pet business.

If you desperately need some time off, or you want to travel for short or extended periods of time while your business runs without you, this is the episode for you!

Click to listen to Pet Business Digital Nomad.

This episode is an interview that Laura West did with me on her podcast, A Guided Life Podcast.

It’s also a conversation that can help you too!

You’ll hear us discuss how we cultivated deep trust in our businesses and in our life. You’ll also learn ways we have sharpened our intuition, which has not only helped us personally but also professionally – and how you can do this also.

Click to listen to Cultivate Intuition in Your Pet Business and Life.

This episode is your invitation to clear out the clutter in your calendar (you can do it along with me as you listen!) and create more space for what truly matters in your life and pet business.

By revisiting those recurring appointments and events that may be unknowingly weighing you and your calendar down, you’ll gain valuable insights into how you’re actually spending your time.

Click to listen to Clearing Calendar Clutter.

If you’ve got a busy pet business you may think that is the cause of your stress but it may be the way you’re running your business or your relationship to the daily tasks that you do (or don’t do).

In this podcast episode, you’ll learn the “what, why and how” when it comes to your stress and the art of creating calm that not only benefits you but also benefits your business.

Change can begin to happen when you realize you’re the common denominator when it comes to your stress! Whether you know it now or not, you get to determine your stress level. This episode will help you to simply and effectively lower your stress.

Click to listen to Create Calm While Running a Busy Pet Business.

Learning how to maximize productivity is an important skill for pet business owners!

There are simple actions you can take, starting right now, to help you get more done in less time. This podcast episode will help you do that!

Click to listen to Productivity Hacks.

This is Stephanie’s third and final coaching session in this episode series.

Her first coaching session is Episode 137 and her second session is Episode 138. If you haven’t already heard the prior sessions, it’s recommended you listen to those before listening to this one. (This episode builds upon the two prior episodes and will make a lot more sense if you’ve listened to those first.)

In this final session with Stephanie, we discuss workaholism and how to create pet business success with grace, ease and joy. How to drop the compulsive hustle and work grind in order to truly enjoy life while creating financial success. It IS possible to create a work life that gives you both a happy life and financial abundance! No need to choose one over the other.

As you listen to this coaching session, think about your own life and business and, like Stephanie, you may also gain insight and guidance on how to create a life you love to live as a pet business owner.

Click to listen to Create Sustainable Success.

This is Stephanie’s second coaching session. Her first session is Episode 137. If you haven’t already heard her first session, it’s recommended to listen to her first session before listening to this session.

Since the first coaching session, Stephanie has stopped spending time on social media since that took time and energy away from working on her passion project (the business she discussed in Episode 137).

She’s now only allowing herself to post on social media when she’s accomplished something as a way to be accountable instead of a way to distract herself by getting lost down the rabbit hole of social media.

As we explore what else is taking up her time and energy, we explore the three major areas of life and work right now: parenting her 5-year-old son, her dog walking business and teaching at a university.

When she thinks about adding this passion project business to her already-full schedule it’s causing her to feel very overwhelmed. So, where does she go from here? What does she need to do to step away from the overwhelm to focus on what matters most to her?

You’ll find out in this coaching session!

Click to listen to Release the Overwhelm.

Stephanie has had a dog business for many years and though she wants to continue growing her pet business, she also wants to create a new online business that is targeted to pet parents. She is thinking that an online business could be a good “branch” off her current pet business.

She has a lot of questions about logistics around creating an online business and how to balance both her service-based business with an online business.

At the end of this session, we dive deep into her mindset. Stephanie has a profound awareness of how she feels like she never has enough. She feels like she doesn’t have enough, that she’s not doing enough. You’ll hear more about this in the next session with her that is focused on mindset. Stay tuned for part two!

Click to listen to Pet Business Pivot.

Today’s podcast coaching client is Kristen.

She boards dogs in her home and has three sons who keep her busy. She is going through a divorce and her soon-to-be ex-husband supported most her financial needs and now she needs to make more money in her dog boarding business.

What becomes apparent as we begin this coaching session is that she needs to get clear how much she needs to make each month. We discuss the gifts that can happen when she does financial tracking and also the best way to track business and personal numbers.

We also explore the goal setting process and why it’s important for Kristen to do and how her financial goals may positively impact her net profit.

We also discuss the glass ceiling and what can help her move beyond current financial blocks.

On a personal level, one of Kristen’s barriers that has affected her self-esteem (and earning) is that her prior partner didn’t support her and in fact, put her down a lot. She experienced a lot of belittling from him, and it really wore down her self-esteem. Now that she’s out of that relationship and can see clearly, she needs to strengthen herself internally, cultivate confidence and self-esteem both while living her life and running her dog boarding business.

Click to listen to Create Financial Awareness, Self-Esteem and Confidence.

Crystal is a pet sitter who wants to create another business that specializes in cat behavior and helping animal companions strengthen their bond to felines. She’s concerned about making the transition from one business to another as her goal is to let the pet sitting go and move into the new business. Crystal is also experiencing some financial concern, so she wants to know how to make that leap without creating more financial stress. Lately she’s been losing sleep about the state of her finances and other concerns and the worry has been weighing her down.

She has a lot of questions about how to make this transition, and as we move through this coaching session, you’ll discover along with my coaching client Crystal how to navigate through stress, worry and big change.

Click to listen to Starting Another Business with Financial Concerns.

Hi pet pros! Hope you're doing well today. 🙂

I'm hopping in your feed today with a special announcement.

I hope to see you at the 28-Day Business and Life Bootcamp for Badass Women.

~Kristin Morrison

Click to Listen to  28-Day Business and Life Bootcamp for Badass Women.

This is an episode from my other podcast that is for all types of business owners called, Business Pathfinder.

I wanted to share this episode with you, dear pet business owner, because I think you may find it helpful too. A lot of pet business owners suffer from what my coaching client in this session is struggling with in this coaching session.

It’s my hope that if you also struggle with what my coaching client is grappling with, that hearing this session will help you and perhaps even begin to help you heal, too.

My coaching client in this session is Alex. She is a software engineer and entrepreneur in Poland. She helps business owners master technology through a membership site she created called Tech Club.

Our conversation at the beginning of the session may at first seem like it’s not relevant to Alex’s business but as you listen, you’ll hear it sets the stage for where we end up going in this session.

Alex is one of those entrepreneurs who “has really good starts” but after her initial success, her projects seem to fizzle out.

We bring who we are into our business. If we’re not consciously aware of what we’ve learned about money and work from our parents and grandparents, we may unconsciously carry those parental beliefs that aren’t ours into our work.

This can also happen with childhood wounds that have not yet been healed - they can profoundly impact how we run our businesses, as you’ll hear is the case with Alex.

Trigger warning: there’s a brief mention of suicidal thoughts in this episode so please take loving care of yourself as you listen.

Click to listen to Healing Hyper-Independence and Loneliness.

In this episode of Beyond the Microphone, host Adam Baruh welcomes guest Kristin Morrison, an entrepreneur, business coach, and podcast host of two podcasts: Business Pathfinder and Prosperous Pet Business.

They discuss the importance of maintaining a healthy mindset, avoiding burnout, and the power of taking time for the people and activities that truly matter.

Click to listen to Mindset + Work/Life Balance.

This is Part Two of my coaching session with Amy. If you haven’t yet heard Part One (Episode 131), I encourage you to listen to that first as it sets the stage for this session.

In Part One you heard Amy having a hard time detaching from her phone. In this session, you’ll hear how hard it is for her to delegate and let go to an office manager or admin assistant and other staff members.

If you can relate to this (and I know a lot of you can!), this episode is for you!

Thanks to Amy for being willing to be so open, authentic and vulnerable in both of her coaching sessions with me.

We cover topics in these two sessions that a lot of pet business owners struggle with and I feel grateful she was able to show up so courageously in order to not only get help for herself but also help those of you who struggle with this similar issue.

Click to listen to Part Two: Delegate and Let Go.

Like SO many business owners, and even some people who don’t have a business, Amy is having a difficult time detaching from her phone.

She feels like her phone is always a part of her. She has no idea how to fully let it go, even for a bit each day, so that she can actually let go when she’s not working.

She feels like she’s living the life of that meme you may have seen out there – “Why did I quit my 9-5 job to work 24/7 in my business?”

We cover a lot of ground in this session, and it ended in a very different spot than we anticipated it.

At the end of the session, it became clear that there was more to explore in this session with Amy and so I set up another session – Part Two is Episode 132.

Thanks to amazing Amy for being so open, authentic and vulnerable in this session. We cover topics in this session that so many pet business owners grapple with and I feel like I feel so grateful that she was able to show up so courageously for this session in order to help those of you who struggle with similar issues.

It’s my hope that if you’re struggling with detaching from your phone and worry you’ll find relief.

Click to listen to Part One: Detach from Worry and the Phone

I was recently interviewed on Jill Sutton’s podcast. Living Her Legacy podcast. Thanks to Jill for letting me share this episode on the Prosperous Pet Business podcast.

Jill’s podcast is geared for moms but this episode is for anyone who has trouble setting boundaries and as Jill and I discuss in this episode, I took the time to create boundaries in my businesses in order to improve the quality of my life.

You’ll hear us share how a person's role can change throughout their lives (and their business) and we also discuss how false beliefs about ourselves and our lives can be limiting for our growth and impact.

Click to listen to Kristin Morrison Interview: Set Boundaries and Belief-Busting.

Brionna provides pet care services including vacation visits and mobile nail trims and she’s having a difficult time determining how to price her services. She often feels awkward and uncomfortable when it comes to stating how much she charges. Even though she will tell clients her highest rate, she will often back pedal if a client protests that her rate is too high. Sometimes she’ll voluntarily offer a discount even when they don’t say a word about her price!

This pattern of not charging what she believes her time and energy are worth is creating resentment toward her business and disappointment in herself. Brionna needs help getting out of this disempowering cycle.

In this business coaching session, you’ll join us as we go on a wild ride that starts with a left-brain process of Brionna discovering exactly how to price her services, so they feel good to her and aren’t too high or too low. The session ends in a surprising right brain way for both of us as I put on my life coach hat to help Brionna discover how to fully embody the value she’s bringing to her clients so she can then confidently state her rates.

Click to listen to Pricing Pet Services and Embodying Your Value.

In this episode, Kristin is interviewed by podcaster Marianne from Message in the Middle.

Marianne sits down with Kristin Morrison and asks Kristin questions about her journey of transitioning from being a high achiever, type-A business owner to finding balance and prioritizing non-work activities.

In this episode you’ll discover the importance of setting intentions, implementing consistent practices, and how to reach your goals while keeping fun at the forefront.

Join Marianne and Kristin as we delve into the importance of relaxation, setting intentions, and implementing consistent practices for a more joyful life.

Click to listen to Make Time for Joy and Fun.

Please note: This is Part Two of Gabrielle’s coaching session.

In today’s coaching session I’m working with Gabrielle, a pet sitter Post Falls, Idaho.

Gabrielle has expanded her pet sitting service company to include providing dog treats, items like training treats and large and small peanut butter biscuits.

Gabrielle wants to expand the treat portion of her business and eventually add other services so her company can be a “one stop shop” for pet owners.

And, though she is passionate about expanding and growing in new ways, she also wants to protect her mental health in the process and not burn herself out.

Click to listen to Protect Mental Health and Prioritize Self-Care.

Please note: This is Part One of Gabrielle’s coaching session.

In today’s coaching session I’m working with Gabrielle, a pet sitter in Post Falls, Idaho.

Gabrielle has expanded her pet sitting service company to include providing dog treats, items like training treats and large and small peanut butter biscuits.

Gabrielle wants to expand the treat portion of her business and eventually add other services so her company can be a “one stop shop” for pet owners.

And, though she is passionate about expanding and growing in new ways, she also wants to protect her mental health in the process and not burn herself out so that’s part two of this session which you can hear on Episode 127.

Click to listen to Expanding Pet Services to Include Pet Products.

Today’s coaching session is with Jenn, a dog trainer, pet sitter and dog walker in Brooklyn, New York.

Like a lot of pet care providers, Jenn has been through so much in her business because of the pandemic. If you can also relate to going through the ringer because of the pandemic too, this episode is for you.

During the pandemic, Jenn had many clients move to different areas in New York and her service area is now very spread out. The radius of her service area has expanded to become much larger and that’s caused her a lot of stress and raised her expenses and made it harder to hire staff.

She needs to set boundaries with clients, and she’s felt nervous about saying no to client requests because she doesn’t want to lose clients.

So, because of these and other challenges you’ll hear Jenn talk about in this episode, she feels stuck between a rock and a hard place and has no idea what direction to go in. She needs perspective from outside of herself to become aware of what changes she needs to make in her business in this post-pandemic world.

Click to listen to Post-Pandemic Pet Business Challenges.

Today’s episode is an interview Alex Alexander recently did with me on her podcast, Friendship IRL. Originally, our idea was to talk about how to make business friends, but our conversation quickly became so much more. We focused especially on intentional everyday actions we need to take to build the kinds of connections we want in our lives.

You have probably read articles that point to friendship as one of the top contributors to happiness. And yet, especially for busy business owners, friendship usually gets pushed to the bottom of a To Do list, if it even goes on the list at all!

Friendship, social connection, community, – these are all important contributors to a sense of well-being. There will be ups and downs as we navigate friendship, especially if we are rusty when it comes to cultivating friendships - and that’s okay! Taking even one small action a day toward friendship and connection can lead to feelings of contentment, positive self-regard and fulfillment. And those feelings help us begin to create a well-rounded life that is worth living!

So, listen in and discover how you can begin to take important friendship actions now – even as a very busy business owner.

Click to listen to Cultivate Friendship to Create a Well-Rounded Life.

Nadine lives in Australia and she’s created a vitamin for dogs and wants to bring her product to market first in Australia and eventually to the United States and other countries. She has a lot of questions about beta testing and marketing her product. In this session we discuss the answers to these challenges and more.

If you’ve been thinking about creating a product or are simply curious about how you might go about product development from the beginning stages of starting and launching a product.

Click to listen to Create a Product for Pets.

Ari is the youngest entrepreneur I’ve coached. He’s 13 years old and has created a Marin County, California product business that is gift baskets for dogs. He sells his baskets to neighbors, by word of mouth from those who share about his creative venture with their friends and family. He ships his baskets to those who have ordered them from various parts of the United States.

Ari is wondering how to grow his pet product business and he’d especially like to increase his business exposure by being interviewed on podcasts and other media.

More than a coaching session, I found this to be a very touching conversation with a fascinating, articulate and confident young business owner. I think you’re going to like it.

Click to listen to 13-Year-Old Who Wants to Grow His Pet Product Business.

I’ve got a new brand-new podcast coming and it’s for all types of business owners. In this episode, you’ll hear a bit about the new podcast as well as an audio appetizer of what’s to come with this new podcast.

Don’t worry, the Prosperous Pet Business podcast isn’t going anywhere! You’ll hear more about that and the new pod in this short episode. Enjoy!

Find out more about the new BUSINESS PATHFINDER podcast and subscribe to the pod on your favorite apps via this page on my other website:  KristinMorrison.com/podcast-coming-soon.

Hi pet business owners! I’m popping in with a special announcement today.

Click to listen to Special Announcement from Kristin Morrison.

This is part one of my session with Lois. You can listen to the next episode to hear part two. Lois started her dog walking and dog training business while still working her corporate job. She walked and trained dogs on her lunch break and before and after her corporate job!

After a while, she realized that she was making more money walking dogs than working in her corporate job as an accountant!

So, she started her dog walking business and then after she started her business, she’s become a workaholic! It’s also been scary for her to let go of job security and to trust herself and her business.

In a very short time, she’s been able to create a very successful business with staff. She’s been trying to determine how much she wants to grow her business; how much is enough and how long she should continue running her business because she’s also thinking about retirement as some point as she just turned 60.

Often coaching sessions end up at a destination that surprises both me and the coaching client I’m working with, and this session is no exception! You may be surprised, like we were, about where this session ends up.

Sit back, relax and enjoy this session!  Click to listen to Calm Your Mind, Change Your Business, Part Two.

This is part one of my session with Lois. You can listen to the next episode to hear part two. Lois started her dog walking and dog training business while still working her corporate job. She walked and trained dogs on her lunch break and before and after her corporate job!

After a while, she realized that she was making more money walking dogs than working in her corporate job as an accountant!

So, she started her dog walking business and then after she started her business, she’s become a workaholic! It’s also been scary for her to let go of job security and to trust herself and her business.

In a very short time, she’s been able to create a very successful business with staff. She’s been trying to determine how much she wants to grow her business; how much is enough and how long she should continue running her business because she’s also thinking about retirement as some point as she just turned 60.

Often coaching sessions end up at a destination that surprises both me and the coaching client I’m working with, and this session is no exception! You may be surprised, like we were, about where this session ends up.

Sit back, relax and enjoy this session!  Click to listen to Calm Your Mind, Change Your Business, Part One.

Jodi is a dog trainer who wants to expand her dog training business. She is having a hard time having her clients follow through on the homework she gives them. Like a lot of business owners, Jodi is an idea generator and a visionary! These are great qualities to have as a business owner, but for her ideas to come to fruition they also need to be implemented!

In this coaching session you’ll hear how Jodi, like her clients, also needs methods to help her stay accountable so she can accomplish the many business and personal life tasks on her to do list.

Click to listen to Grow Your Pet Business and Create Client Accountability.

My podcast coaching client today is Kristen. She boards dogs in her home and offers dog walking and has had her part-time pet business for nearly a decade. She recently made some courageous life changes, and she now needs to turn her business into a full-time venture to financially support her and her kids.

You’ll hear Kristen talk about the life changes she recently made and how those changes have impacted her and her business. You’ll also hear about some changes that she needs to make in her business to support her personal life. If you want or need to make big life or business changes, you may find this episode inspires you to make those changes too!

Click to listen to Big Life Changes Require Business Changes.

Heidi is an experienced pet sitter and dog walker in Naples, Florida. Lately she has been feeling frustrated about hiring staff.

She’s been interviewing not-right people and also hiring flaky people who seem very interested in the beginning of the hiring process, but they back out before they are already hired or shortly after being hired.

There are effective methods to weed out the flakes and, in this episode, you’ll learn those methods.

In this session, you’ll also hear me share a step-by-step process to help her hire better people and the way we do that is to really break down her hiring process to determine exactly where the flaky ones are even considered in the first place – and how to avoid flaky people in the future.

She also has questions about what to pay her staff since the area her business is located is in an affluent area.

Heidi also needs to get reinspired in a big way when it comes to hiring! If, like Heidi, you are struggling with hiring in this challenging job market, you won’t want to miss this episode.

This episode will guide you step-by-step through an empowering hiring process: from creating a help wanted ad that works, to how and where to conduct the interview as well as a lot more details.

Click to listen to Discover What’s Not Working When it Comes to Hiring Staff.

In today’s episode I get more personal than I have in a long time on this podcast – you’ll hear me share what I’ve been experiencing lately and how it’s affected me, and also how it relates to today’s episode.

Mimi is a pet pro who is struggling with personal and professional burnout. She has a severe critical inner voice that tells her to do more, even when she’s exhausted. She needs to learn simple ways to quickly calm her nervous system so she can begin to work on the business challenges from a clear and more peaceful way.

If you are suffering from burnout, or if you want to learn tools to manage burnout in the future, this episode is for you.

Click to listen to Use Mindfulness to Recover from Burnout.

In the last podcast episode, I worked with a coaching client on hiring and we’ll dive a bit more in depth on that topic today with a different coaching client.

My coaching client today is Shannon, a pet sitter and dog walker from Pennsylvania. Her business has grown so quickly that she’s had to scramble to hire keep up with the large number of clients coming her way.

She’s trying to figure out whether employees or independent contractors are best for her business. In this session you’ll also hear how to find a low-cost employment attorney to get labor law questions answered in the least expensive way possible.

There are pros and cons when it comes to hiring employees vs. independent contractor and you’ll hear some of those in this coaching session.

Shannon has a lot of other questions that we cover in this episode including:

Does she need to eliminate overnights if she has independent contractors? And if so, are there any possible workarounds to keep providing that overnight service for her clients using independent contractors? What’s the best way to pay staff? Plus, how to hire in a way that will draw the best and most responsible and available staff members.

Click to listen to Hiring Staff in Your Pet Business.

Mallorie is a pet sitter and dog walker in Dallas, Texas. Her business has grown quickly, and she’d like to expand even more without compromising the quality of care she’s committed to providing her clients.

She asks me the chicken-or-the-egg question that so many pet business owners ask me: “Should I hire first or advertise to get more clients first?”

You’ll hear my answer in this episode as well as information about how to expand in a way that doesn’t comprise quality, how to hire even if you don’t have any clients for new hires right away, how to grow the business and still make sure clients and staff feel your personal care, how to delegate tasks in a way that will help rather than hurt your business, and we also discuss a bit about the ins and outs of hiring a manager or office admin – plus a lot more.

Click to listen to How to Hire and Expand Your Pet Business.

Susan is a pet sitter from San Diego. In her coaching session today, she is bringing up a question that I’ve never been asked before on the podcast: How to create positive company culture.

Company culture is something that is often discussed in a lot in tech companies but rarely is it looked at by small, service-based business owners and it’s important! I was impressed that this is a concern of Susan’s, because it’s important for staff retention and workplace happiness.

Company culture is not a one-size-fits-all experience. When you explore this topic in your business, you want to explore what do you want, what does your staff want, and how can you make working with your company more enjoyable to increase staff retention and workplace happiness.

In this session we explore this and how to ask your staff crucial questions and what types of questions to ask them in order to have them help you create positive company culture.

Click to listen to How to Create Company Culture in Your Pet Business.

In today’s coaching session, I’m working with Tina, a pet business owner who feels like she’s constantly putting fires in her business. She has 5 part-time staff to help her, but she gets a lot of last-minute calls from them asking for time off which causes her to have to jump in and be the emergency backup.

She needs to raise her prices and wants to know if she should charge a gas surcharge given how high the gas prices have gone recently.

She has some policies but she hasn’t been implementing them and she really needs to do this so her business can begin running like a well-oiled machine.

Click to listen to Create Policies & Procedures to Save Time, Money & Energy.

In today’s coaching session, I’m working with Cora, a pet business owner who sometimes struggles with occasional bouts of depression and anxiety. When it hits her, it causes her to suffer - and her business to suffer.

When she’s not experiencing depression and anxiety her energy level is high, her response time to clients is quick, and she’s able to bill clients in a prompt manner as well as other necessary business tasks.

When she’s going through a challenging time, things look very different: it can take her a week or two to return client calls, it can be like slogging through quicksand to bill her clients in a timely manner and she has very little energy to run her business.

She feels physically and mentally stopped.

Now, you know this (but I have to say this to protect myself and to protect you listeners): I’m not a therapist nor a medical doctor. I’m a business and life coach.

If you are suffering from depression or anxiety, please see a medical professional.

In today’s coaching session I’m not trying to diagnose Cora, nor cure her anxiety or depression. I can’t do that nor would attempt to do that.

I am simply having a conversation with Cora about depression and anxiety and how it impacts her business and her life. I’m not trying to fix Cora’s depression or anxiety but rather to help her navigate her business during this time.

Again, if you’re struggling with depression or anxiety, please get help from a medical professional.

I want to say a huge thank you to Cora for having the courage to come on this podcast and be a voice for those of you who suffer from depression and anxiety and are also trying to run your business, raise your kids, and/or navigate your personal and work life.

Even if you don’t experience depression and anxiety, you may know someone who does, and this episode may help you feel more empathy and compassion for this often silent illness that can be crippling in ways that cannot be seen.

Click to listen to Dealing with Depression and Anxiety as a Pet Business Owner.

Today’s coaching session is with Donna, a pet sitter and dog walker in Tennessee.

She has owned her business for a few years and she’s struggling with creating a schedule that works for her and her full personal life with family and many pets. (Donna wins the award for the pet business owner I’ve coached who has the most dogs – she has 9 dogs!)

In this episode you’ll hear how she can learn to say no to clients because saying no is a learned behavior and often doesn’t come naturally to pet pros. She’s pretzeled herself to accommodate her beloved clients and like a lot of pet professionals, she needs to put some of that energy and attention toward herself, her family and her own dogs.

You’ll also hear about how both Donna and I took a break from social media and how that positively impacted our lives and how taking a social media break may help you too. Plus a lot of other questions, challenges and business issues were covered in this session. You’re sure to be able to relate to some or all of this coaching session with Donna!

Click to listen to Create a Business Schedule You Love.

Val Goren is an Atlanta-based pet sitter and dog walker who has a quickly growing pet sitting and dog walking business. Like many pet pros who provide home-based pet services, Val is having challenges managing the vast amount of client keys she and her staff are responsible for.

In this episode you’ll hear how she can best organize and manage the many client keys as well as how to manage her visit and walk schedule and raise her rates so she’s able to pay herself and her staff in an appropriate way, especially when gas prices are high.

Val also has questions about how best to ensure staff aren’t late to client meet-and-greets, pet sit visits and dog walks. She also has questions about how best to train her pet sitters and dog walkers so her staff reflect the high standards Val herself does when she is providing the service.

Click to listen to How to Deal with Pet Sit & Dog Walk Client Keys.

Do you have a fear of your employees taking your clients? Do you struggling to keep employees for as long as possible, but they often leave within a few weeks or months?

The dog walker and pet sitter I coach on this episode was struggling with those questions and other challenges, most of which involve changing her mindset. In this episode you’ll learn how to begin to let go of your fear of hiring as well as a fear of those you hire taking the clients you’ve worked so hard to keep. Through listening to this coaching session with Krista, you’ll learn how you can work with your mindset including how to begin to take the focus off scarcity and put your focus where it belongs, on creating your thriving pet business!

Click to listen to Get Over Your Fear of Hiring Staff.

Marie has a dog products business on Etsy and she also wants to start a service-based pet sitting and dog walking business. She’s wondering how to go about creating a service-based business in addition to her existing dog products business.

Marie has a lot of questions about the startup process including how to start her dog walking and pet sitting business while still working her weekday job, if it’s even possible to start that business, and keep her job and how to find a great administration assistant to do the tedious and confusing tasks. She’s also confused about what client newsletter system would be best for her two very different businesses.

Click to listen to How to Run a Pet Business When You Have a 9-5 Job or Another Business.

Stephanie is a new dog trainer who needs help getting clients quickly in her dog training business. Like many pet professionals who are on a shoestring budget, she’s unsure what marketing makes the most sense to invest in right now, given the many advertising options available.

As a new business owner, Stephanie is also feeling overwhelmed by all the tasks she feels like she should be doing but doesn’t know where would be best to put her limited attention, time and energy.  And finally, she’d like to specialize in “bully breeds” but isn’t sure if narrowing her niche would be a good route to take as a new business owner.

Click to listen to Shoestring Budget Marketing for Pet Business Owners.

Does your personal life go to the very bottom of your business to do list – or not get any attention from you at all? Today’s coaching client is Karissa and nearly every day she experiences a lack of attention on her personal life. In the midst of her busy “one-stop shop” pet care business, dog trainer and pet sitter Karissa is so busy caring for other people’s pets that she’s struggling to find quality time for herself and her own dogs.

It’s time for Karissa to receive some “personal life triage”.  Some of the suggested ways she can begin to revive her personal life surprised her and they may surprise you too!

Click to listen to CPR For Your Personal Life.

Even if you’ve had your pet business for years, there may be parts of your business that are not quite solid. When solidity is created in the areas of business that require it, there’s so much more that’s possible in your business (and in your personal life).

Today’s coaching client is Maryann Berry, a new pet sitter and dog walker who lives in San Diego. She is very excited to launch her new business and just got her first client. Maryann wants to set up her business the right way, so today I’m helping her do that.

Regardless of whether you’ve been in business for many years or are just getting started, you’ll likely get something of substance out of this episode as we cover a wide range of topics within this podcast coaching session.

Click to listen to Create a Solid Business Foundation.

Last episode was Katie and today we have another Katie! Today’s coaching client is Katie, a pet sitter and dog walker in Denver, Colorado. One of the magical things about coaching sessions is that I never quite know where they will end up even if I think I do from the beginning of the session. I think Katie and I both thought this coaching session would be going in a different direction than it ended up going in but this was the direction it wanted and needed to go in and so we went with it. I think you’ll see why as you listen.

Like a lot of pet business owners, Katie is on her phone a lot! There are ways to manage the complicated relationship of being a business owner and having a life and gaining control of phone use is one of the most powerful ways! I recommend you put your phone away for at least a few minutes after listening.

Click to listen to Phone Detox.

Today’s coaching client is Katie, the owner of Katie’s Care, LLC. When she showed up for this podcast coaching session, Katie was working 24/7, feeling like she was always “on” and having a hard time saying no to her beloved clients. She also wasn’t making much money given the large number of hours she was working each week.

Like a lot of pet business owners, Katie was feeling stretched to the max and this coaching session is all about how she can begin to create the kind of pet business and personal life she’d like to create. If you can relate to any of this, you’ve come to the right podcast episode!

Click to listen to Manage “Always On” Expectations in Your Pet Biz.

Today’s coaching client is Alexis, the owner of Hand and Hound Pet Sitting. After ten years of pet sitting for neighbors and friends, Alexis Campbell turned her side job into a full-fledged business in 2019. Hand and Hound Pet Sitting serves clients in the Phoenix area, and strives to be "like your neighbor, but with more credentials," making relationships with families and their pets. In 2021, Hand and Hound hired their first employees, and doubled their revenue. Now at 8 part-time employees, they are hoping to expand even more in 2022.

Like many pet business owners, Alexis is feeling very overwhelmed, and this coaching session is all about how she can best deal with the overwhelm. I invite you to sit back, relax and enjoy this coaching session with Alexis.

Click to listen to How to Deal with Overwhelm.